Just Heard Aug 22, 2007

via Philip Dawdy and Cydney Gillis| August 22nd, 2007

Lunch break

Security officer jobs are typically among the worst paid in America, especially compared to the responsibility so-called rent-a-cops have for the properties of large corporations and the security of the public while they are on site. Ten dollars an hour is a common pay rate along with no paid sick days and unaffordable health insurance. Security officers who are part of SEIU Local 6 want to change that -- at least in Seattle. On Aug. 24 at 11:30 a.m., local security officers will march from City Hall to Third Ave.'s Central Building, calling for better pay and benefits.

--Philip Dawdy

Police hip-hop

The NAACP isn’t letting up on the Seattle Police Department. This week, the civil rights group, which has been fighting the city over a long list of alleged police brutality cases involving Toby Campbell, Rajnii Eddins, and Troy Patterson, to name a few, will lead hip-hop and spoken word artists in a rally scheduled this Sunday, Aug. 26, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Park between S. Walker and S. Bayview Sts. in Rainier Valley.

Third party woes

Tired of the two political choices on the menu? A coalition of the state’s third parties – including the American Heritage Party, the Constitution Party, the Freedom Socialists, the Libertarians and the Progressives – is working to change that by writing a bill to make it easier for minor-party and independent candidates to get on the ballot.

This fall, the parties will start shopping the legislation to state lawmakers in hopes one will sponsor it. In the meantime, they’re circulating a petition that voters can sign to demand the Legislature give us more choices. To sign the petition online, go to www.exordia.net/morevoterchoice.